The Valkyrie Song

Epilogue
I

It stung. It stung like hell, but Fabel knew that he had to let it go. But one day, he swore, he would get enough on her to put her away for good. He glared at the television monitor in the Murder Commission’s main office. He glared at two faces he knew.

‘Isn’t this an embarrassment for the NeuHansa Group?’ asked Sylvie Achtenhagen. ‘And an indictment of you personally that you employed and trusted a man who turned out to be a criminal? Someone who ordered and paid for the murders of so many people?’

‘The first thing I want to make clear is this,’ said Gina Bronsted, with a smile that suggested she was talking to children. ‘The corporate crime division of the Polizei Hamburg has placed me and all of my business dealings under the very closest scrutiny and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that I knew anything about Svend Langstrup’s criminal activities. He was obviously running his own covert empire within the NeuHansa Group. It is true that he got away with this for some time, but there was no way…’

Werner switched off the TV with the remote.

‘Don’t eat yourself up over that bitch, Jan,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to let it go. She’ll be caught out sooner or later. I believe the guys at corporate crime are as determined to nail her as you are.’

‘And OLAF,’ said Fabel grimly. ‘And Okokrim in Norway. And the Danish National Police. Gina Bronsted is going to have to tread very carefully from now on.’

‘What about this first-Monday-of-the-month deal? You know, the message in Muliebritas? That’s Monday coming: are we going to stake it out?’

‘No point,’ said Fabel. ‘Three Valkyries: one dead, one back in a mental institution, and the third will do anything other than attract attention to herself.’

‘True…’ Werner chuckled maliciously. ‘Anyway, she comes round to yours if she wants a chat.’

Fabel shot him a look and Werner gathered up some papers from his desk and left the office. Once Werner was gone, Fabel picked up the phone and punched in a number.

‘Hello, Frau Meissner? Jan Fabel here. I got your invitation to talk to the Sabine Charity about the Polizei Hamburg’s initiative on violence against women. I’d be delighted to…’